As the waves crashed over the beach, rescuers were forced to pull Mrs Duncan even further up the sand to give her CPR without the risk that the water would sweep them all away.

Ms Maylin said they fought for at least 45 minutes to save the American woman.

'They did everything they could,' she said.

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She was standing with Mrs Duncan's shocked son, Shane.

'I'm not sure he realised what was happening,' she told the MailOnline. 'He was very cold, very shocked.

'He gave his name and where they were from - but he didn't say a word about the accident. Hopefully he doesn't remember.'

A Brazilian man who was on the beach filmed the moment Mrs Duncan was swept away on his mobile phone. The footage was posted on Italian news websites.

'Oh my God,' he and his friends can be heard saying in panicked voices.

''They have gone in - quick, let's help them.'

The footage ends abruptly as the men rush towards the water, but they are seconds too late.

'As soon as we saw what happened, we jumped into the water," said Matteo Lucibello, a local fisherman, was quoted as saying.

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'We threw over a life vest hoping to save mother and son.'

Mrs Duncan, who was from Montana, lived in nearby Naples with her aerospace engineer husband.

She was in Positano with friends for the weekend.

Locals questioned the wisdom of being on the jetty given the stormy seas. One woman said: 'I shouted at her to move because it was dangerous but she just said one more picture, one more picture - then she went in.'

Paramedic Gino Esposito said: 'There are no warning signs. Perhaps there should be - but common sense says you should not be on that jetty when the sea is so rough.'

The City Council has agreed to award medals of valour to the bystanders who tried to save Mrs Duncan.

Her body has been sent to her family in America where she will be buried.

See video here

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Horrifying moment an American mother is swept away by huge wave and drowns trying to save her son